Electhic-circuit-controlling device



wuumhr I I s. c. M cKEOWN'-. ELECTRIC CIRCUII CONTROLLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION, FILED JULY 25, 19H.

1,368,517. Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

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UNITED sTA'res PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL CHRISTOPHER MCKEOWN, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO SPLIT-DOBF ELECTRICAL COMPANY, OF NEWABK,NE JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

ELECTRIC-CIRCUIT-CONTROLLING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

'. Application filed July 25, 1917. Serial No. 182,693.

I '0 all it may concern: I

Be it-known that I, SAMUELC. MCKEOWN, acitizen of the United States,residing at #98 Warren street, Newark, in the county of Essex and Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful ImprovcJ 'ments inElectric-Circuit-Controlling Devices, of which the followingis aspccification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

he invention relates to new and useful improvements in electriccontrolling devices and more particularly to a device for controlling abattery current for producing sparks for ignition purposes.

It is customary in the art to'provide bat te'ry' ignition which includesa primary and secondary coil, in the primary circuit of which is a makeand break device for mterrupting the primary circuit. This make and ibreak device consists of contacts which are battery;

closedfor establishing. the current and separatedffor' interrupting theflow of. the current through the circuit;

In a device of this character ,'if the engine should stop with thecontrolling cam positioned so as to leave the contacts closed, thenthere wouldbe a constantdrain on the The present invention is'directedto means operating automatically to separate the contacts which normallymake and break the circuit for ignition purposes when theaetuatingmechanism there or stops.

In the drawings I I Figure 1 shows moreorless d1agrammat1- cally acircuit controlling device embodying my improvements; I

Fig. 2 is a view in part similar to Fig. 1

showing a modified form of theinvention;

3 Pi 3 is aviewin part similar to Fig. 2

but s owing the actuating shaft in motion and the contacts as closed;

Fig. 4 is a side elevatlonofFig. 1 some of the parts being shown msection.

similar construction holds for Figs. 2 and 3.

The invention consists broadly in means for preventing the contactswhich normally operate to make and break thebattery circuit from closingwhen the actuatingmechanism stops with the actuating device in thenormal position for closing the contacts. This is accomplished byproviding a drum rotating with the actuatingshaft and a brake band whichmakes contact with the drum, which brake band is shifted through alimited distance by the rotation of the drum; The tension of the brakeband on the drum may be varied by suitable means.

A suitable spring limits the movement of the brake band and when theactuating mechanismstops this spring shifts the brake bandin a directionnormally opposed to its direction of rotation which results inseparating-the contacts, if the actuating mechanism should stop, inposition to normally close the contacts.

and extends freely through the other end thereof. A spring bears againstthe free end of the band at one end and against a washer 6 at the otherend. A threaded nut 7 screwed on to the end of the bolt serves as ameans for regulating the tension of the spring 5. Thebrake band isprovided with a suitable felt lining indicated at 8. A bumper spring 10is placed between the end of the brake band and an abutment 11 fixed tothe frame of the machine. This bumper spring opposes the rotation of thebrake band 3. When the drum ceases to revolve then this'bumperspring 10moves the brake band a'short distance in a counter-clockwise direction.7

Current for ignition is supplied'from the battery B. The battery currentis controlled by an interrupter consisting of a fixed contact 12 andmovable" contact 13. The fixed contact 12 is connected to ground througha suitable line 1 The movable contact is connected through the line 15to the battery.

-The movable contact is carried by a spring arm 1.6 fixed to a bracket17. Said movable v Cit arm is actuated by a lever 18 which is pivoted at19 to the frame ot the machine. lvlountcd on the shaft is a controllingcam which engages the lever for oscillating the same. A. pring 2-1having one end connected to a pin 36 which is fastened to somestationary part of the device as S7, normally holds the lever inengagement with the cam. The free end of the brake band extends upwardlyand is provided with a projection of insulating nraterial indicated at22. This projection lies directly in rear of the movable member 16.

The other terminal of the battery it; is connected through a line 23 andswitch 3iwith a primary coil 2%. A secondary coil connects with themovable distributor which is rotated so as to engage the cont-acts 27,28, 29 and 30, in succession.

The operation of my device, above described, is as follows:

When the shaft 2 is actuated, the cam 20 will cause the lever 18 tovibrate. The rotation of this shaft also rotates the drum. The bralreband trictionally engaging the drum will turn with the drum in aclockwise direction to a limited extent, compressing the butter spring10. This movement of the brake band brings the projection 2- intocontact with the movable arm 16 and closes the contacts, provided theactuating lever is in position to permit the contacts to be closed. itstop pin 33 which is to be understood to be mounted on a stationary par3? of the device, limits the forward movement oi the lever 18. Then asthe cam rorates and the lever is oscillated a movement of the upper endof the lever to the left will cause the contacts to be separated,shifting the brake band with the movable member carrying the movablecont-act. As soon however, as the shaft 2 stops in its rotation, thenthe butter spring 10 will shift the drum and the brake band so as toseparate the con tacts regardless of whether the lever 18 stops inposition for closing the contacts or not. In other words, the butterspring 10 always insures that the contacts will be open when the enginestops and this prevents any possible drain on the battery. Ii, however,the engine shat" is started then the contacts are automatically returnedto operative position relative to each other so that the actuatingmechanism will make and break the contacts in proper timing forproducing ignition.

The device shown inFig. 2 is similar to that shown in Fig. 1, except asto the manner of controlling the contacts.

The shaft 2 carries a drum 1 and an actuating cam 20 which operates uponthe actuating lever 18. Encircling the drum is a brake band 3 having afelt lining. A bolt 4: carried by one end of the brake band e7;- tendsthrough the other end thereof and a spring 5 determines the tension onthe brake band, in the manner above described. A buii'er spring 10limits the movementof the brake hand through the rotation oi the drum ina clockwise direction and rotates the brake band in the oppositedirection when the actuating sha'lt stops. Currentis supplied i'rom abattery B and this is controlled by an interrupter consisting oi anormally stationary contact 12 and a movable contact 13.

The movable conract'in this embodiment of the invention is carrieddirectly by the actuating device 18. The normally stationary contact ismounted on a lever 26 which is pivoted to a bracket 27 that is mountedon a fixed part oi? the device but insulated therefrom. A spring 28 hasone end fastened to the lever 26 by any suitable means, such as a screwand the other end fixed to an abutment The lever 96 rigidly connected toan arm -20. The brake band is provided with a raised portion orprojection 31, which is adapted to engage the rounded end of the arm 30.A spring 21 having one end connected to a pin 36 which is fastened tosome stationary part 37 ot' the device holds the actuating lever 18 incontact with its actuating cam. As the shaft 2 rotates it will vibrateor oscillate the lever 18. A stop pin 32 which is to be understood to bemounted on a stationary part 37 of the device limits the forwardmovement of the lever 18 and a stop pin 33 also mounted on thestationary part 37 of the device limits the movement of the lever 26.lVhen the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the shaft is idleand the buffer spring has turned the band and drum so that theprojection or raised part 31 is ineffective to raise the arm 30. v henthe part is in the above position the normally stationary contact isheld in such position that the movable contact will not engage the sameno matter what may be the position of the actuating cam 20. As soon asthe main shaft begins its rotation the raised portion or projection 31will engage the end of the arm 30, forcing it outwardly as shown in Fig.3, and this will shift the normally stationary contact to a position sothat the movable contact will engage the same.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have providedbroadly means for interrupting the battery circuit for producingignition current which includes contacts which can be opened and closedand also means which prevents the contacts from being left closed by theactuating mechanism provided the shaft stops with the actuating lever inposition for non mally closing the contacts and, therefore, under nocondition can the contacts be left closed and the battery be shortcircuited through the engine when it is idle.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction andarrangement of parts, may be made without departing from the spirit ofthe invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is,

l. The combination with an electric circuit, of a pair of make and breakcontacts for interrupting said circuit, actuating means'for saidcontacts, setting means for said contacts, means movable with saidactuating means for operating said setting means so the contacts can beactuated to interrupt the said circuit, said setting means acting toopen said contacts when the said means movable with the actuating meansis stopped. p

2. The combination with a source of direct current, an electric circuitincluding the primary of an induction coil, interrupter members in saidcircuit carrying a pair of contacts normally out of operative range, anoperating cam, a'drum movable with said cam, a brake band operated bysaid drum and adapted to bring said contacts into operative rangewhereby said cam may operadapted to maintain said contacts separatedwhen the actuating means stops.

4. The combination with an electric circuit, ofa pair of make and breakcontacts for'interrupting, the circuit, one of said contactsbeingnormally stationary and the other being movable, an actuating means,for said movable contact, a drum movable 5 \VltlISiLld actuating means,frictlonally operatedv devices controlled by the drum for moving thecontacts into normal range of action and. a spring for shifting saidfrictional means to separate the contacts when the actuating meansstops.

I In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses.

SAMUEL CHRISTOPHER McKEOWN.

\Vitnesses G. V. Sass, M. W. BAn'rnn'rr.

